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1: I had lived in France all my life and I was classified in the third estate. We were the "poor" people of France. Ever since I can remember my mother and father always complained about the privileges that were given to the first and second estate but some reason the third estate had always been treated like scum. Your job and income defined what estate you were in. Royalty and clergy made up the first estate. The second estate was made up of rich nobles.The third estate was made up of bankers, factory owners, merchants, professionals, skilled artisans, tradespeople, apprentices, laborers, and domestic servants. The first estate never had to pay taxes and owned 10% of the land in France. The second estate paid little to no taxes and owned 20% of the land.97% of France's people were in the third class and they had to pay high taxes and had small properties. | "EUROPA - The EU at a Glance - Maps - France." EUROPA - The EU at a Glance - Maps - France. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2012. .

2: My family, along with 80% of France, were peasants and also made up the third estate. We paid half our income in dues to the nobles, tithes to the church, and taxes to the kings' agents. We have always resented the clergy and nobles for their privileges. Along with the resentment, new ideas about government, serious economic problems, and weak leadership helped spread the desire for change throughout France. The third estate started demanding equality, liberty, and democracy. | "H HR ." Jspivey. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2012. .

3: When the 1780's rolled around Frances economy was in major decline. Whenever there was economic problems, even more taxes were put on the third estate, making it impossible to make a profit off their income. Part of France's debt was caused by extreme spending on luxuries from the queen, Marie Antoinette. The king had also gained debt from previous kings and eventually banks refused to lend anymore money to the government. | King Louis XVI never paid attention to these economic problems until the government ran out of money. Instead of stopping extra spending and being wiser with France's money, he decided to put a tax on the nobles. The second estate made the king call a meeting of the estates general to approve this tax. The estates general were representatives from all three estates. The meeting was on May 5, 1789 in Versailles.

4: The third estate declared themselves as the National Assembly and pass laws in the name of the French people. On June 17, 1789 was the end of absolute monarchy and the start of representative government. A few days later the third estates' representatives were locked out of their meeting room. As a result they tore down the door of an indoor tennis court and pledged they wouldn't leave until they had written a new constitution for France. This became known as the Tennis Court Oath. | Nobles and clergy soon joined the third estate. Louis response was to place his army of swiss guards around Versailles. Rumors flew through France and Everyone started gathering weapons in case of attack. On July 14 mobs stormed through the Bastille in search of gunpowder. The attackers went after guards and paraded around the streets with their heads on pikes.

7: On August 4, 1789 noblemen declared they wanted liberty and equality and wanted to get rid of the privileges that were given to the first and second estates. The National Assembly took over church lands and declared that church officials and priests were to be elected and paid as state officials. The profit from selling the church land helped pay for a lot of Frances debt.The assembly's actions started to worry my family and other peasants who were also a big member of the Catholic church. We believed that the church should be independent from the state so from then on out my parents opposed the assembly.

8: Emigres who were nobles and others who fled France want to undo the revolution and bring back the separation of the estates. People like my father though wanted even more changes for France, they were known as sans-culottes. Even though my father had no part of the Assembly he still had his secretive ways to influence ideas for change. | "Paris Architecture- Jardins Des Tuileries." Paris Architecture- Jardins Des Tuileries. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2012. .

9: When other European countries found out about the new government they insisted that France needed to put Louis back as an absolute monarch. The legislative assembly took offense and declared war in April 1792. In the summer of 1792 the Prussian commander threatened to destroy Paris if our revolutionaries harmed any member of the royal family. On August 10th 20,000 men and women invaded the Tuileries. The mob massacred the guards and imprisoned the royal family.

10: As the relationship between church and state changed, Louis XVI was warned that him and his family were not safe. Even supporters of the monarch felt dangered so they left France. In June 1791 the kings family tried escaping to Austria but as they came to the border they ran into guards that escorted them back to Paris. | By September 1791 the National Assembly had completed a new constitution for France. This created a limited constitutional monarchy and got rid of a lot of the kings power. It also gave France's government a Legislative Assembly that had the power to create laws and to approve or reject declarations of war. The king still had the power to enforce laws.

11: "French Navy Web Page." French Navy Web Page. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2012. . | Even though some government problems were getting solved, problems like food shortage were still effecting families like mine. The legislative Assembly questioned how to handle these problems. They eventually split into tree different parts. Each part sat on a different part of the meeting hall. Those who sat on the left were Radicals, they opposed the idea of monarchy and want changes in the way the government was ran. Conservatives sat on the right and they agreed with the limited monarch and wanted very few changes. The moderates sat in the middle and want some changes in the government.

12: Fearful citizens like my family raided the prisons and murdered over 1,000 prisoners. After seeing all the chaos the legislative assembly set aside the constitution and called for an election of a new legislative. The new government body was called the National Convention and they took office on September 21. The national convention finally abolished the monarchy and turned France into a republic. This gave adult men the right to vote and hold office. | "BuelahMan's Revolt." BuelahMans Revolt. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2012. .

13: The National Convention reduced Louis XVI's role from a king to a normal citizen and prisoner. Louis was the found guilty of treason. His punishment was the death sentence. January 21,1793 was the first time i saw someone beheaded by the guillotine. As the war continue the French army needed to get stronger. In February 1793 the convention ordered a draft of 300,000 French citizens from the ages of 18 to 40. bu 1794 the French army had grown to 800,000 soldiers and included women.

14: In early 1793 one of the Jacobin leaders, MaximiliIn Robespierre, started to gain power. His plan was to wipe away all of France's past. This was hard to hear as a young girl because it was like someone changing everything I had ever known. This man was trying to change things like the calendar. There were 12 months in a year, each with 30 days in them he was also changing the names of each month. The new calendar had no Sundays because the radicals thought that religion was dangerous. In that case all of the churches were closed. | "Facts About All." : The Jacobin Club. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2012. .

15: Robespierre became more as a dictator. His time of rule became known as the Reign of Terror. His job was to try the enemies of the revolution in the morning and if found guilty they were guillotined in the afternoon. I tried my best to stay out of trouble. It seemed like there was never a break in beheaded people. Before I know it there was 40,000 French citizens sent to the guillotine. 40% of those people were citizens just like my family, ordinary peasants. | Finally in July 1794 the National convention demanded Robespierre's arrest and execution. In 1795 the national convention drafted another plan of government. This gave most power to the upper middle class. there was also a two house legislature and an executive body of 5 men who were the Directory.

16: In October 1795 Napoleon Bonaparte was appointed to defend delegates from the National Convention from royalist rebels. He greeted the royalist with a cannonade which scared away the attackers. In 1796 the directory chose Napoleon to lead the French army in many battles. In November 1799 Napoleon took action to gain political power. He assumed the power of a dictator. By 1802 France was at peace with Britain, Austria, and Russia. Now Napoleon was able to restore order in France. | Works Cited "History Blog." History Blog RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2012. .

17: In 1800 a plebiscite was held to approve a new constitution. As people voted in favor of the constitution it gave Napoleon all real power. In Napoleons act of restoring France he still kept many of the changes from the Revolution. He also supported laws that would help strengthen the government and achieve goals of the Revolution. Napoleon also helped get the economy back on track as he set up an efficient method of tax collection and also established a national banking system. These actions helped manage and control the economy. Napoleon helped in corruption and inefficiency in the government.

18: In October 1795 Napoleon Bonaparte was appointed to defend delegates from the National Convention from royalist rebels. He greeted the royalist with a cannonade which scared away the attackers. In 1796 the directory chose Napoleon to lead the French army in many battles. In November 1799 Napoleon took action to gain political power. He assumed the power of a dictator. By 1802 France was at peace with Britain, Austria, and Russia. Now Napoleon was able to restore order in France. | Napoleon started dismissing corrupt officials and also setting up lycees that were opened to all male students. He also wanted to restore religion in France so he signed a concordat that established a relationship between church and state. The concordat gained Napoleon the support of the majority of the French people. His comprehensive system of laws was known as the Napoleonic Code. The only problem with this was that it limited liberty and promoted order and authority over individual rights. | On December 2,1804 Napoleon was crowned emperor and the French supported him. By 1812 Napoleon had went through some harsh defeats, leaving the French empire unstable. After even more of Napoleons downfalls he eventually was sent off to St. Helena until death.